Yea, the new stadium can't hold 4.27 million fans over the course of 81 games. It's smaller. And I've discussed already the new stadiums throw a wretch into the attendance numbers for the first few years.

I can show you example after example after example of teams having their attendance drop after missing the playoffs when they made the playoffs the year prior, and several examples of attendance going up the following year after making the playoffs. The Orioles attendance will be higher this year than last year, unless they fall on their face in April or May and struggle to a 65 win season.

Would your wife not root for the Yankees or not have a player jersey if Jeter didn't exist? Will she stop caring about the Yankees when Jeter retires? Will she not buy Yankee merchandise because it doesn't have "Jeter" on it?

I think you're confusing "playoffs" with "contention". That's why I said your 92 win/90 win team analogy was off. Teams that contend keep their fan base interested. Baseball has a long season. And, as I said, there are a lot of factors beyond winning and favorite players. Weather and scheduling are important. The Sux on a T/W/T at YS will draw just as well as a KC on F/S/S. Swap those around and the Yanks draw less on the week. Give me 37 degrees in April and I'll show you people saying "**** this. I'm staying home."

She'll root for the Yankees. She won't have a jersey. When I said "Jeter will start the season on the DL", she said "That makes me sad for him. I don't think that's how he expected to finish his career." So, if you ask me, she'll care less about the Yankees than she did when he retires. I think there are plenty of people who identify players with teams.

So what if Jeter hits .212 this year and says he wants to come back. So the Yankees let him (cuz teh FAAAANNSSSS!!1!!). And he gets 500 at bats in 2014 and hits .212 again. And then he wants to come back again. And since he's the captain, he ain't takin' no leadership bench role, **** that noise. He's starting shortstop, take it or leave it *************.

You suggested that the Yanks might outright release Jeter, and pay him 8m to do nothing, if he had a bad year.
I disagreed and suggested that you might not know it's a player option.
You said "No, I know but that's the team's perogative."
Several pages of why the Yanks would not release him and pay him 8m to do nothing.
You suggest that the Yanks could release him after the 2014 season if he has two poor seasons in a row.
I mention that his contract is over after the 2014 season so he can't be released.

So, are you asking, with even the slighest tone of seriousness, would the fans be OK if the Yanks didn't tender an offer to a 41 year old SS, who in your words "ain't takin' no leadership bench role, **** that noise. He's starting shortstop, take it or leave it *************", after coming off two poor seasons?

You suggested that the Yanks might outright release Jeter, and pay him 8m to do nothing, if he had a bad year.
I disagreed and suggested that you might not know it's a player option.
You said "No, I know but that's the team's perogative."
Several pages of why the Yanks would not release him and pay him 8m to do nothing.
You suggest that the Yanks could release him after the 2014 season if he has two poor seasons in a row.
I mention that his contract is over after the 2014 season so he can't be released.

So, are you asking, with even the slighest tone of seriousness, would the fans be OK if the Yanks didn't tender an offer to a 41 year old SS, who in your words "ain't takin' no leadership bench role, **** that noise. He's starting shortstop, take it or leave it *************", after coming off two poor seasons?

Yes, I'm serious. If the fans are OK with not resigning Jeter in 2015 when he wants to come back after a ****** season, why wouldn't they be OK with releasing Jeter in 2014 when he wants to come back after a ****** season?

I mean, since the fans make all the big decisions for the Yankees (Vernon Wells? LMFAO).

Posted by MikeT23 on 3/27/2013 11:16:00 AM (view original):I think you're confusing "playoffs" with "contention". That's why I said your 92 win/90 win team analogy was off. Teams that contend keep their fan base interested. Baseball has a long season. And, as I said, there are a lot of factors beyond winning and favorite players. Weather and scheduling are important. The Sux on a T/W/T at YS will draw just as well as a KC on F/S/S. Swap those around and the Yanks draw less on the week. Give me 37 degrees in April and I'll show you people saying "**** this. I'm staying home."

She'll root for the Yankees. She won't have a jersey. When I said "Jeter will start the season on the DL", she said "That makes me sad for him. I don't think that's how he expected to finish his career." So, if you ask me, she'll care less about the Yankees than she did when he retires. I think there are plenty of people who identify players with teams.

There are a lot of different factors that go into the season's attendance. By far, the biggest factor is team success. I don't know any other way to say it. "Star players" are not a major factor. See the 1993 Mets.

Obviously, I don't know, but I would guess your wife will eventually be drawn to another favorite player and like the Yankees just as much as she did when Jeter was there.

Key word is "eventually". Say she and I went to 10 games a year. For a couple of seasons, she couldn't decide on a new favorite player. She skips 5-6 games a year because she's just not as interested. Multiple that by several thousand(and that's probably a VERY conservative number and you'd know it if you've ever been to a Yankees game).

I think fan favorites play a big role in actual attendance numbers. Again, it's easier to determine in game like basketball because there are fewer players but it's a real factor for casual fans.

Actually, I'm interested to see what happens in Atlanta this season. Made the playoffs last year (sort of), but also lost Chipper, and everyone knew Chipper was retiring. Attendance in Atlanta should go down a few hundred thousand if you guys are right.